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“You’re not shit out of luck,” I tell her, meaning every word.
She beams. “Why? Because I have you?”
I roll my eyes but find myself grinning at her eager tone. “I’m always here for you if you need anything. You should know that by now.” Considering Maddie’s my kryptonite, I’m tempted to break all my damn rules for her. She definitely plays to my weaknesses.
“Really?” She tilts her head at me. “Anything?”
We pull into the driveway of the house, and I turn to look at her. Sparkling blue eyes peer up at me, and for a second, I get lost in them but pull myself out of her dangerous trance. “Don’t start,” I warn.
She bites her bottom lip, then bursts into laughter. “I’ll give you a free pass because you picked me up and saved the day, but next time…” She taunts me further by waggling her brows, and I groan as the sudden image of her underneath me flashes into my mind.
“Get the hell out of the truck,” I demand with a grin. Maddie flutters on her toes as she follows me toward the front door.
“I’m so excited I get to spend the rest of the weekend with you,” she admits as I unlock the house. “All alone,” she exaggerates further, and I try to ignore her, though it seems impossible.
Walking in, I chuckle at her attempts to spike my blood pressure even though I’d never admit it’s working. “There’s food in the fridge, and you can sleep in Sophie’s room for now.” I walk toward the kitchen, needing a beer to numb the inappropriate thoughts that come with her being here with me all weekend. “Also, Maddie…I’m not babysitting your ass while Sophie’s gone, so stay outta trouble. Okay?”
She shoots me a wink and plops down on the couch. Crossing her ankles on the coffee table and relaxing, Maddie looks right at home. “We’ll see about that, Hulk. We will see.”
Chapter Two
Maddie
As soon as I finish practicing alone in the school studio, I make my way across campus to my apartment. After I’m inside, I sit to take off my shoes, and moments later, I hear the smoke detector blaring next door. It wouldn’t surprise me if my neighbors were burning popcorn again since it’s happened at least half a dozen times already. I don’t think much of it until the emergency sprinklers in my apartment turn on. Panic courses through me, and the first thing I do is pack as much of my shit as I can into a duffel bag, then loop my backpack over my shoulder. I look around, trying to remember if I’ve forgotten anything important like pictures, books, clothes. The faint smell of smoke fills my apartment. When someone knocks, I rush toward the sound, but the heat from the fire brushes against my skin.
“You’ve got to get out,” a girl who lives a few apartments down the hall tells me, but I can’t remember her name.
“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to understand.
“The whole place is gonna burn to the ground,” she says in a thick Southern accent, pulling me away as I shut the door behind me. I thank her while crossing the parking lot, then look back and see black smoke billowing from my neighbor’s window. I close my eyes tight, trying to take in steady breaths, and tell myself it’s going to be okay, even if I don’t fully believe it right now.
Minutes pass, and I hear the sirens screaming in the distance while a large crowd gathers in the parking lot. Treacherous flames lick the side of the building, and we all watch in silence. The fire needs to be contained before it spreads, and everyone loses everything in their apartments.
I search for a familiar face while surrounded by strangers when I find Shelby, a freshman who’s a dance major too. “Shelbs. Do you know what happened?”
“No idea,” she says with wide eyes.
We watch firefighters unload from their truck and trek up the stairs as fast as they can. It doesn’t take long before more firemen are attacking the fire with strong torrents of water from outside the building.
My first reaction is to call Sophie to ask her to pick me up as my nerves get the best of me, but then I remember she and Mason left his morning. I open my phone, ready to call Lennon, but then decide against it because I don’t want her to worry. Besides, crashing on her couch isn’t really an option. Their apartment is tiny as it is with the kids and Hunter, and I’d just be in the way although I know Lennon wouldn’t mind.
So I suck up my pride and call Liam since he said he’d be on call if I needed anything. It rings twice before he answers, sounding sexy with a hint of a rasp in his voice. With each word, my control slips, and he notices immediately. It takes him all of fifteen minutes to arrive. Liam’s hot as hell in a black T-shirt that hugs him in all the right places and workout shorts. He must’ve been at the gym because he smells like sweat and man.
